ISEQ drops again despite a good session on Wall Street
Thursday October 22 2009
DUBLIN stocks fell again yesterday with both financial and general stocks finishing lower and the ISEQ ending with a drop of almost 26 points to 3252.80.
The market went into decline despite a relatively good session on Wall Street, where, despite an early drag, shares traded up, erasing most of Tuesday's losses. Better-than-estimated earnings at Yahoo and Morgan Stanley boosted optimism that a seven-month rally was justified.
AIB and Bank of Ireland were back in the red following a brief revival in fortunes during the previous session when they were propelled higher by a strong recommendation from Nomura. However that momentum was lost by yesterday and the two drifted backwards throughout the session, AIB ending down 1.37pc at €2.67 and Bank of Ireland down 2.3pc to €2.72.
The rest of the market was not much better, with construction materials giant CRH slipping down 0.26pc to €19.35. This was despite relatively positive news from Poland, where the Polish Cement Association reported sales were up over 4pc in September. Analysts will be watching the coming month's data to see whether growth is now firmly entrenched, Goodbody said, adding that the market is important for CRH given it is one of its biggest exposures at 12-13pc of group's profits.
Elan issued what analysts termed a strong set of third-quarter numbers. But that did little enough for the shares, which ended the session with a 2pc decline to €4.40.
In London the FTSE 100 Index finished a see-saw session on the front foot as mixed company results gave investors food for thought.
The top flight was nearly 70 points down at one stage, as commodity stocks dragged down the benchmark index, but it turned around the losses to close 14.5 points higher at 5257.9.
Mervyn King's hard-hitting speech to business leaders in Edinburgh cast a shadow over the banking sector after the Bank of England Governor called for bank's retail functions to be hived off from their more speculative ventures.
Royal Bank of Scotland fell 0.75p at 45.8p and Barclays dropped 1.2p to 364.95p, while Lloyds Banking Group slid 0.15p to 91.5p amid reports that it could be given the all-clear to avoid the government's asset protection scheme. But the fallers board was dominated by blue-stocks turning ex-dividend, meaning shareholders are not entitled to the latest payout.
Engineering firm Smiths Group led the fallers board, down 37p to 932.5p, while BAE Systems followed close behind, losing 10.8p to 316.1p.
Supermarket Tesco posted one of the biggest gains after broker Nomura flagged up the chain's growth potential. Tesco shares rose 8.95p to 392.45p, while rival Morrisons added 2.7p to 275.8p and Marks & Spencer gained 3.2p to 349.7p.
Sainsbury's proved the exception as shares have been inflated in recent days by fresh takeover speculation. The stock was off 2.1p at 345.7p.
- Pat Boyle
Irish Independent
